A man wanted for shooting a McHenry County sheriff’s officer Thursday morning at a hotel in Rockford has barricaded himself in a car after crashing it in a field near I-55 in downstate Lincoln.
Officers with the U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force tried to serve an arrest warrant about 9:15 a.m. at the Extended Stay America Hotel, 747 Bell School Road in Rockford, according to Rockford Police Deputy Chief John Pozzi.
Floyd E. Brown, 39, is wanted on multiple warrants from Sangamon, Champaign, McLean counties and the Illinois Department of Corrections, Pozzi said. When the officers arrived, Brown opened fire with a rifle.
One of the officers was injured by the gunfire, Pozzi said. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
U.S. Marshals Service spokeswoman Belkis Sandoval said the officer worked for the McHenry County sheriff’s office and was part of the task force serving the warrant.
Brown left the third-floor hotel room via the window and drove away in a silver or light blue Mercury Grand Marquis with an Illinois license plate of BFI3112, Rockford police said.
He was already gone when local police responded to reports of the gunfire, Pozzi said. He had apparently fired the rifle inside the hotel room and then again in the parking lot.
A female acquaintance of Brown’s was found with a gunshot wound inside the hotel room when police arrived, Pozzi said. She was taken to a hospital and her injury was not thought to be life-threatening.
Pozzi said none of the officers fired their guns at the scene and she appeared to have been injured by Brown’s gunfire.
Winnebago County State’s Attorney Marilyn Hite Ross said an additional arrest warrant has been issued charging Brown with attempted first-degree murder of a police officer. The warrant carries a $5 million bond amount.
Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Sam Thomas said state troopers spotted the car in the Bloomington area and tried to pull it over, but Brown continued to flee.
The car eventually left the roadway and crashed into a field off of I-55 near milepost 133 in Lincoln, state police said.
Brown remains barricaded inside the car, and SWAT officers are negotiating with him at the scene, Thomas said.
This story is developing.
